Metal working apparatus



Dec. 25, 1956 R. M. SCHUMACHER 2,775,151

METAL WORKING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 9, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l DCC- 25, 1956 R. M. scHUMAcHER METAL WORKING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 9, 1953 wm. Sm. n @mh @n N Nv n@ MLM w R 0 w. m m6 w, 1 w m ZZ e u m @y \w m km@ m. Wwlml @n 2 mh, WJ j @wm n@ S mmhw a IKE/J NNE United States Patent O 2,775,151 h METAL WORKING APPARATUS Richard M. Schumacher, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Caine Steel Company, a corporation of Illinois Application February 9, 195s, serial No. 335,914 s claims. (c1. str- 40) strips are generally obtained by cutting them from much wider sheet metal material. Cutting or slitting of sheet metal often leaves burrs and sharp edges on the resultant strips which are not desirable either in a manufactured article or from the standpoint of handling thestrips during manufacture.

Edging of metal strips in the usual manner known heretofore has added a considerable amount of expense in the productionof the strips. The procedure usually followed has been to first cut the strips from a roll of relatively wide sheet metal and immediately wind these strips into individuallyrolls or reels. `When it was later desired toll an order for edge rolled strips of a certain size, a reel of that size was taken to an edge rolling machine and fed through the machihne which smoothed the edges and rewound the strip. .h This additional handling has been costly as well as requiring additional storage facilities.

The present apparatus is intended for use in conjunctionwith the slitting mechanism for cutting the strip from a roll of sheet metal. The slitting, edge rolling and winding into reels of smooth edged strips is accomplished ina single operation.- t

h An embodiment of one form of the invention is shown infthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan View of a complete unit including a slitter, the edgerolling apparatus of this invention and a rewind reel;4

. Figure `Ztis asideelevational viewlpartly in section,

of theapparatuslshown in Figure 1 and taken substantially along line-2 2 in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a` vertical sectional view looking toward the rolling units of the apparatus of this invention. The view is` partly broken `away and is enlarged to show the details of the rolling units;

Figure 4 is a broken side elevational View of one of the rolling units showing the detailsof the supporting structure thereof; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view through the rolls of a rolling unit and taken substantially along line 5 5 in Figure 4.

One of the primary considerations in warehouse activity is the space required for operating the machines and other apparatus that perform some operation on the material sold. Ordinarily, space is at a premium. Cutting, slitting, forming, edging and other equipment should occupy as little space as possible to leave the bulk of thewarehouse space for storage and handling of the material which is processed and sold. The previously followed procedure of separately edging each sheet of 2,775,151 Patented Dec. 25, 1956 ICC metal required a considerable handling space and also two separate machines for producing the finished product from the rolls of sheet metal.

In the present invention, the slitting of a roll of sheet metal into strips and the edging of these strips is accomplished concurrently in a single machine setup so that the finished product is obtained immediately from the roll of sheet metal.

A typical setup of this sort is shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings. A roll 10 of sheetmetal is mounted on a shaft 11 so that it may pay out the wide strip 12 into the slitting mechanism 13. Ordinarily the spindle or shaft 11 upon which the roll 10 is mounted in an idler and is not driven.

The slitting mechanism is mounted on a table 14 and is shown diagrammatically as composed of opposed disks 15 and 16 which cut the metal with a shearing action into a number of separate strips. The rolls mounting the disks may be driven by a gear 17 and in some instances may be turned by friction with the sheet pulled between the cutters. Immediately following the cutters are a pair of pinch rolls 18 and 19 which grip the severed strips and pull them through the slitter 13. These pinch rolls 18 and 19 frictionally grip all the strips and are driven by means of an appropriate gear 20.

For the purposes of illustrating the invention and aiding in the understanding of the principles of the invention, the Wide strip 12 is shown as severed into three different sized strips.` Relatively wide strips 21, narrow strips 22 and a very narrow strip 23 are all cut from the single sheet 12. Ordinarily, there is a selvage along each side which is discarded and is not shown.

The severed strips pass from the pinch rolls 18 and 19 into the edging apparatus 24. Each strip is separately edge rolled to remove the burrs and sharp edges. The particular construction of the edge rolling units will be described below.

After the strips pass through the edging unit, they pass to a rewind reel 25 where each of the strips is separately Wound between metal separators 26. The rewind shaft 27 is provided with a gear 28 which may be powered to wind the strips and thus pull them through therolling apparatus.

The strips emerging from the slitting mechanism are all in a single plane and are juxtaposed. Since these strips are wound on the rewind reel and are pulled through the edging apparatus, no single strip can be moved far from a horizontal line of travel since to do so mayrequire too much elongation resulting in breaking `that particular strip. It is desirable, therefore, to provide as little deviation as possible from the horizontal path of the strip from the slitting mechanism to the rewind reel.

This problem is further complicated by the necessity of keeping each strip in its path without bending the strip laterally. A salable strip must be straight and one that has been bent laterally will be curved and therefore would not meet salable standards. The present device keeps each strip in its path without lateral movement and only displaces the strips vertically within their respective paths.

The particular edging unit illustrated is mounted on a pair of standards 30 which extend upwardly on either side of the path of the juxtaposed strips. A plurality of shafts 31 extend between these standards and generally transversely of the direction of movement of the strips. In the present instant, a pair of shafts support a number of edging units. In Figure 3, a number of edging units generally designated 32, are shown as mounted on the shafts 3l, three such units on each pair of shafts. The particular arrangement is for edging the nine strips illustrated in Figure 1t The edging units 32 are arranged in a staggered overlapping plan. It will be noted that the inside edge of a strip 21 is vertically aligned with theroutside edge ofthe next strip 22 and that the latter Strip is vertically` @desV aligned with the next strip v23.. That is the strips are separated vvertically but not 1aterally in passing through the edging unit.

Each edging unit 3,2 has a pair of opposed horizontal rolls 34.` These rolls are supported on horizontal shafts 35 which in turn are supported by opposed arms 36 having hubs 37 each mounted on one of the shafts 31. The .arms 36 on either side of the horizontal rolls are separate so that they may be separatedk or moved together to accommodate a roll 34 of ditferent length.I It will be noted that the rolls for the strips 21 are wider than those for the other strips. The rolls however are all of the same construction and are varied only in length. l f

In Figure 5, it will be noted that each horizontal roll 34 comprises a pair of similar end sections 38 each having an outwardly extending or outturned flange 39. This flange engages a corner 40 of the strip and rounds this corner as the` strip passes between the rolls. The size of the roll is varied by the number of annular spacers 41 which are placed on the shaft 36, between the end sections 38. These spacers have surfaces flush with the main portion of the end sections 38 so that a smooth continuous roll surface is presented. The bottom row of edging units have rolls with four such spacers 41 while the uppermost rolls have only two spacers between the end sections 38.

The horizontal rolls are brought into pressure relationship with the strips by means of a bolt arrangement 42 secured through a pair of lugs 43 and 44 respectively secured to the arms 36. Once the arms are in correct position to forcibly hold the rolls against a strip, the arms may be secured in position on the shafts 31 by set screws 45 passing through the hubs 37 of the arms.

Each of the edging units 32 are freely movable along the pair of shafts 31 to which they are attached without interfering with the adjacent edging units. Ordinarily, the horizontal rolls are used for strip material up to about 18 gauge and from three eighths inch wide strips upwardly. With the arrangement described herein using one inch diameter rolls, the strips 21 or 23 need only move down and up respectively from their straight line paths about four inches and the upper and lower strips are guided tothe edging rolls by the shafts 31 as shown in Figure 2,. This movement in a length from the pinch rolls to rewindV reel of about fourteen feet effectively prevents any one of the strips being pulled so taut as to break. It is desirable tol have theapparatus for edging the strips concurrently with` the slitting, occupy as little space as possible and therefore its compaetness is important.

The horizontal rolls with the outturned anges 39 form a semi-closed pass for the strips. The rolls do not ordinarily contact each other nordoes the strip entirely fill the space between opposite rolls. The strip after leaving the pass retains a small at area 46 bounded by two rounded portionsv on either side of the at area. The result is asubstantially rounded edged strip.

While I haveshown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus` for concurrently edge rolling a plurality of coplanar strips contiguous to each other and in a common horizontal plane comprising, in combination; a standard on each side of the path of said strips; a plurality of pairs of horizontal shafts supported by said vstandard in vertically disposed positions and extending across the path of travel of said strips; a-plurality of horizontally extending arms adjustably carried adjacent one end upon said shafts for horizontal sliding movement along said shafts and rotary movement about said shaft as an axis; a plurality of pairs of edge rolling units carried by the outer ends of said arms and each having a pair of rolls mounted for rotation about horizontal axes, said rolls having vertically extending anges adopted to engage the edges of said strips to edge the four longitudinal corners thereof, there being a pair of rolls for each strip to be edged and a pair of arms for each roll; means for securing said arms on said shafts to position said edge rolling y units, in vertically arranged and staggered relationship with the strips ytherein retained in horizontal position; and means for forcing theV rolls of each unit toward each other whereby said strips are edged without being bent laterally from their original positions andtheir path of movement.

2. Apparatus, for concurrently edge rolling a plurality of, coplanar strips as'. defined in claim 1 wherein there is a plurality of pairs of edge rolling units upon each pair of shafts. y

3. Apparatus for concurrently edge' rolling a plurality ofcoplanar strips as defined in claim 1 wherein one edge of the strip on one level overlies the opposite edge of the adjacent strip in the next level.

ReferencesCited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 10,479 McCarty Ian. 31, `1854 56,152 Weimer July 3,:1866, 133,454A Kellogg Nov. 26,- 1872 231,146 Briggs Aug.17, 1880 231,493 King Aug.y 24, 1880` ,315,626 Jackson Apr. 14, 1885 375,352 Handloser Dec. l27,1887

' 392,484. Zdziarski Nov. 6, 1838 1,121,670 Saunders Dec. 22, 1914 1,528,392 Baehr Mar. 3, 1925 1,664,580 Tytus Apr. 3, 1928 1,963,724 Taylor June 19, 193.4 2,074,713 Tross Mar. 23, 19,37,` 2,076,458` Halli f Apr. 6, 1937 2,335,334 Yoder Nov. 30, 19.43 2,635,493. Schumacher Apr. 21', 1953- Y FOREIGN PATENTS f 602,172 Germany Sept. 5, l1934 

